


Blossom For Me

by miseenscene



Category: ENHYPEN (Band)
Genre: College, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, Romance, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28087059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miseenscene/pseuds/miseenscene
Summary: Kim Sunoo made a grave mistake by falling in love with his all-time Nemesis, Park Sunghoon. When Sunoo discovers he is contracted with a rare but fatal disease in which the only cure is the kiss of his crush, he is determined to do whatever he can to steal Sunghoon's lips.
Relationships: Kim Sunoo & Park Sunghoon, Kim Sunoo/Park Sunghoon, Park Jongseong | Jay & Yang Jungwon, Park Jongseong | Jay/Yang Jungwon
Comments: 19
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okayyy~ hello to every kind soul who happens to stop by. This is basically where I dump my sunsun feelings, it’s my first fic and purely for fun so enjoy at your need. English is not my first language so sorry in advanced for typos and mistakes. Comments and feedbacks are really welcomed :3 
> 
> *Hanahaki Disease (花吐き病; 하나하키병; 花吐病): where the victim coughs up flower petals when their love for their crush is unrequited. The only cure to this disease is being kissed by the one they love; hence, the feeling is no longer one-sided.

“Either you kiss him or you die.”

Sunoo groans in a hefty, hopeless kind of wailing noises to which Jungwon considers sharing accurate resemblance with a desperate prisoner about to be electrocuted, hanged, or guillotined, whatever you think is appropriate for a good bon damnation.

It is true that Sunoo has committed a grave sin, a sin that’s hardly explicable to himself. He really should not have done it because it bestows him a whole lot of trouble that need to be dealt with right now. But can you really blame him?

Sunoo has a crush on Park Sunghoon, that obnoxious brat who is notorious for making fun of him since childhood.

First of all, this crush thing itself is very, very, very wrong. Sunoo usually possesses a sense of confident ego that feels entitled to all the praises, compliments, and adjectives of glorious admiration in the world, but one thing he would not flatter himself with is his brain. That brain must be so fucked up to think his all-time nemesis is actually kind of hot.

Secondly, and this is a misfortune for Sunoo but amusingly a scientific wonder for Jungwon who is a premed student, Sunoo is contracted with the Hanahaki Disease, the disease of unrequited love. Sunoo would scorn at the terminology but really it describes the crisis he is currently suffering. The victim of the Hanahaki basically would cough up floral petals as long as his crush is unaware of the one-sided feelings.

It seems that the lovesick disease has on knocked on Kim Sunoo’s door.

The first petal struck him about a week ago when he was studying with his group of friends in the library. Sunghoon was supposed to show up with them but was probably late from his basketball practice, and Sunoo was somewhat very bothered about his absence until the missing person decided to suddenly jolt his back from behind, eliciting a loud, startled squeak from the younger boy that echoes unrelinquishedly in the silent hall.

The perpetrator props onto the seat next to Sunoo who covered his red face from embarrassment. The younger shot a death glare between the fingers, only returned by a zoomed-in face.

“You’re cuter when you’re angry, huh.” Sunghoon’s hot breath, not yet cooled down from the running, smacked themselves on Sunoo’s neck, fresh. That’s when the itches came crawling up his throat like festering vines.

Then, Sunoo excused himself to the toilet only to find a blood-red rose petal unfolding in his clammy palm.

After a few more similar incidents, Sunoo decided to tell this secret to Jungwon, one of his most trusted friends in the college. And to stop the coughs, you’d either wait until you die or get a kiss from your crush, which cures everything.

Well, the first option is obviously not desirable. I’m only 18 and I want to live, thought Kim Sunoo the Freshman.

But the thought of kissing Park Sunghoon gives him cramps. He cannot picture the appalling scene where he has to stick his previous beautiful lips onto his enemy’s vampire mouth. Speaking of ‘vampire’, Sunghoon’s canines are rather sharper than normal which makes them looks like a pair of fangs. So, every time during the lunch break when Sunghoon blissfully chomps on the grilled salmon served in the university cafeteria, Sunoo feels tremendously sympathetic for the poor animal. Being jabbed by Park Sunghoon’s fangs must be hell.

Yet, he kind of have to admit that combining with his ice-cold, pale complexion and chiseled jawline, Sunghoon does scream vampire prince vibes.

“Can’t believe it. I thought Hanahaki is only a fictional thing.” Jungwon shakes his head in disbelief before pulling out his laptop under the pillow to which Sunoo buries his face in. He and Sunoo are currently sharing the same dorm for the freshman year. “Gotta use it as my topic for NCDs research.”

Sunoo rolls his eyes. “Just to remind you that your best friend is dying here, your essay can wait.” Yang Jungwon is indeed Yang Jungwon he swears to God that boy looks at everything like they are germs or cells or microbes. He wouldn’t be surprised if he dies from being dissected by the curious premed student before the illness gets him first.

“So I was saying, just damn kiss.”

“Okay but, do you actually think he will kiss me? Like even if we are the last human beings on earth, I doubt he would kiss me for, I don’t know, the sake of human species survival.”

“Reproduction does not occur from a kiss though.” A flying pillow is hurled towards Jungwon but is successfully dodged. “It’s actually just a small favor, I bet if you tell Sunghoon that you’re sick he would definitely help.”

Indeed, it is only a small favor. Both Sunoo and Sunghoon have passed the age of innocence where they would cover their eyes when the male and female protagonists kiss on the screen. Dating, relationships, and physical skinships are no big deal in university. But not the meaning behind it. If Sunoo reveals to Sunghoon that he got Hanahaki because of him, then his petty, one-sided affection will surely be exposed. In their decade long of rivalry, the first one to yield in is the loser, and Sunoo has all the competitiveness in his genes.

He just doesn’t want to lose.

Suddenly, an idea comes across his mind. Maybe there is a way to get what he wants without necessarily letting his crush know his hidden feelings.

“What if I steal a kiss from him?”

Sunoo now has a big mischievous smile plasters across his chubby face, eyes glowing from the ingenuity that just reignited his hope. Jungwon raises a brow upon Sunoo’s words, whatever his best friend is concocting right now is definitely going in the wild direction; that musical genius has all the whims and imagination in this world.

“Like, what if we set up an accident? Or a condition he cannot refuse?”

Jungwon shrugs. “I can ask Heesung hyung to help me kidnap you both with some fake guns and balaclavas.”

“Well, I doubt you and Heesung hyung’s acting skills meet the bar. But I bet Park Sung——”

“Did someone mention me?”

The door flings open as a familiar voice intrudes into the freshmen’s’ secret talk. When Sunoo lifts his head from the bed to see who the visitor is, he sees no other than the protagonist of his own ruse (and of course, the guy of his awkward affection), Park Sunghoon, and behind their friend Jay. The older boy’s lengthy figure leans on their dorm’s door frame, a teasing smile dangling on the corner of his lips as he stares straight into Sunoo’s eyes.

Sunoo almost chokes on his spits.

He swears he has just tasted the scent of petals in his mouth.

Sunghoon is dressing in a well-trimmed suit to which Sunoo assumes is part of the sim court drill. It fits him well, in fact Sunghoon can manage to look good in any clothes and Sunoo is very much jealous of it. The older boy is a year higher than him and in the college of laws. People who are acquainted with them often describe them as two ends of the extremes. Sunoo on the creative, spontaneous side while Sunghoon on the logical, pragmatic side. Nonetheless, if you put the two together, they strangely click but in a quarreling dynamic. Perhaps that’s why Sunoo can still fall in love with him impossibly.

While Sunoo is still registering the what’s happening, Sunghoon is already lying down next to him and poking a finger to his cheek.

“Did you gain weight, Kim piggie?”

“Shut up, it’s not like you can’t finish five bowls of ramen in a day.” Sunoo snaps off Sunghoon’s hand which starts pinching his flesh. For whatever reason, the law student seems to have developed a weird obsession with Sunoo’s cheek over the years, telling him don’t even dare to lose these fats for his fun would be gone otherwise. Sunoo remembers vividly that during fourth grade, a girl in the next class picked on his weight when he is chubbier back then; the incident got to the parents when Sunghoon decided it’s grave enough to report it to the teacher. Ever since then, Sunoo has been trying hard to lose all his baby fat. On the matter of losing weight, he and Sunghoon have had a huge fight.

Sunghoon only laugh it off at Sunoo’s hisses and Sunoo is trying not to notice the urge to cough and the body warmth at his flank.

On the other hand, Jungwon greets Jay. “What’s up, hyung.”

“Well, Heeseung hyung calls for lunch at 11:30 but none of you two has replied to the chat though. Sunghoon and I just want to check if you two are still alive. Anyways, how’s your NCDs thesis going?” Jay’s actually in the same major as Jungwon, but he’s a sophomore with Sunghoon and they happen to be roommates.

“Well——”Jungwon would love to tell Jay the real topic he’s interested in but that would spare no mercy on his best friend, “——actually haven’t decided yet.”

“We are heading to a coffee shop near the campus to study finals, by the way Jake is also coming. You guys get your ass ready to go.” Sunghoon says while getting up from the bunk. His hand naturally finds the back of Sunoo’s shoulder, squeezing it little in order to get the younger off the bed. What is unanticipated is Sunoo’s abrupt cough, following by the boy’s rather alarmed reaction. And suddenly all the attention land on Sunoo.

“Hey, you alright?” Sunghoon crooks a brow, leaning over to Sunoo in attempt to check what’s wrong. But Jungwon hurriedly shields Sunoo from the sophomore. “Ummm, Sunoo hyung caught a cold yesterday, the weather is getting cold haha…”

In reality, Sunoo started feeling dizzy way earlier than the other three perceived. He doesn’t know if it’s due to the effect of the sickness or anything, the thought of Sunghoon’s kiss has plugged in his mind so firmly it made his head spin. Too close, Sunghoon is too close. Watching Sunghoon’s lips closing and opening becomes a torture as the itch is growing more and more, and the yearning is growing stronger and stronger, as if the throbbing in his chest can only be quenched if he is permitted to suck on those soft folds of flesh.

Furitvely, Sunoo sneaks the petals he has spewed out into his jean’s pocket before putting on a big bright smile; he’s always got a knack of never failing to make people feel assured with his smile.

On the back of his head, however, it piques Sunoo’s pride that he breaks down so easily in Sunghoon’s mere presence. It’s so unfair for the person whose life depends on the love of someone who does not care. And if he has to succumb to this fate, he’s surely not going to wait for Sunghoon to realize his painful affection and feels miserable for him when he’s already a dead body.

He’s going to do it his way. And for his dear life he will safeguard his secret.

tbc.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is around the corner and Sunoo has no idea what gift to buy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone’s having a great time watching KBS Gayo Daechukjae :) here’s a longer update than last time(~5k). Feedback, comments, kudos are appreciated as always :3

They are waiting in a line to order beverages for the afternoon study session at the café nearby.

The final week is cornering so a lot of students are already swarming into all kinds of coffee shops and library, camping there until the shopkeeper announces the last ordering batch before closing. This café is not an exception, it has a nice wooden furnishing with sufficient lighting and ambience music that Sunoo would like to spend the afternoon away.

But the arrival of the sophomores substantially attracts a crowd of excited female students who, instead of looking over notebooks, are snooping over their shoulders to catch a curious glimpse of the heartthrobs.

In case Sunoo didn’t mention before, Park Sunghoon and Park Jongseong (that’s Jay hyung!) are the top hottest students in the whole university, literally competing each other for the most handsome face of the school by their fangirls if you will (he doesn’t know about Jay hyung but Park Sunghoon is definitely enjoying the hype). Sunoo didn’t get the chance to see how the two culminated to where they are now because he is a year younger than them, while he’s struggling with college application in his last year of high school, Sunghoon is already paving the road to fame in uni. To be honest, he never categorizes ‘attractive’ or ‘likeable’ as words that can be possibly associated with Sunghoon, but on the first day of his orientation, when he hauls two hefty luggage behind the law student who is determined to take him on a tour around the campus, girls are sending heart-shaped eyes and beautifully bow-knotted giftbox to his campus guide, which has Sunoo jaw-dropped midway. The freshman forms the hypothesis that the tour was a deliberate move for his snobby enemy to show off.

He was introduced to Jay later in the orientation week after he met Jungwon. If Sunghoon is the cold but mischievous type, Jay is easy going but reticent. He’s the type to always offer a hand when others need help but never talk much. And it’s a miracle that he can still thrive living under the same roof with that devil personified. Then there’s Jungwon’s friend Heesung and Jake, both sophomores, who also happen to be friends with Sunghoon and Jay, so the squad is formed, and as far as university is concerned, he is going to be stuck with his nemesis for another few years.

They catch Heeseung and Jake at one of those big tables near the window, long settled before the four of them arrived. As a punishment, the four of them will be getting drinks for the table.

Now about the earlier plan of conquering Park Sunghoon, Sunoo has exchanged a few clandestine look and gestures with Jungwon to be able to stand next to the law student in queue. Watching Sunghoon mindlessly scroll through his phone and utterly unaware of the ploy that’s about to fall on him has Sunoo snicker feverishly on the inside, and perhaps the excitement is too strong to contain, Sunoo’s intermittent coughs are getting a bit too rough, earning grimace from Sunghoon to which the younger only retorts back with equal force of sneering. If his plan actually works, he shall return as an enfranchised person free from the oppression of his own crush and some daily dose of flower-puking regimen, reminding him his petty feelings that asshole.

He texts Jungwon earlier about his ruse but his friend doesn’t seem to approve. Basically, the plan will be Sunoo ordering the same drink as Sunghoon, then mix up their cups and drink from the one that’s not his, or will you simply put this into a clichéd Korean soap drama term, an ‘indirect kiss’. It may sound too cheesy and stupid, but they never operationalized in the Encyclopedia what kind of kiss it has to be, so it leaves just endless room of possibility for Sunoo to experiment with on his subject, though Jungwon is rather skeptical of the plan, claiming from his professional knowledge that a disease of high mortality rate should not be cured so cheaply.

[JW: I doubt he’s actually going to let you drink his cup, since you convince everyone you caught a cold.]

[SN: Well, watch me turn miracle into science. I’ve got a lot of preparation done from Tik tok. ]

[JW: You know Tik tok depletes brain cells right.]

[SN: I don’t mind if that’s your unique way of wishing me luck >.<]

[JW: Fineee, gOod lUcK bb I’ll forgive you completely ignoring my input on this matter even with my premed license. But seriously you should stay away from Sunghoon with your current condition, you’re coughing like a masochist.]

[SN: Bitch don’t you judge me you think I’m blind to guilty pleasure face when you stand next to Jay hyung? C’mon you two are so fishy like the way you look at him screams gay though? How the heck did he even have our dorm keys? Or you guys did something weird when I’m not in the household LMFAO?]

Sunoo knows his message completely blows up his premed friend when Jungwon shoves his phone way more aggressively than needed into his pocket.

“Next in line, please.”

The cashier calls. Sunoo peeks at Sunghoon who is busily reading the menu, it is his chance now.

“One iced americano, thanks.”

“I’ll have the same thing, please.” Sunghoon’s befuddled face provides exquisite entertainment in his peripheral vision.

“When did you even start drinking coffee?”

“Oh, haven’t I told you before? Must be none of your business.” Sunoo flashes an unashamed smile to the law student, enjoying Sunghoon’s twitching lashes.

It is well within his expectation that Sunghoon would ask, because he never dotes on drinks that are bitter. There are just so many tastier alternatives like bubble tea and hot chocolate and fruit punch, while his peers were all starting to show up in lectures with a cup of steaming coffee, Sunoo is still putting straws into paper cups of hot chocolate. But today will be different, he shall sacrifice a moment of his sugar in exchange for something more important. If Sunghoon is ordering his own snivel, Sunghoon will not drink otherwise.

The law student isn’t backing down. “My dear, I guess it’s also not my business when you beg me for help on your first-year seminar the other night? You sounded so desperate.” Sunghoon leans down to level his eyes with Sunoo, his smirk lopsided and it reminds Sunoo the face of villains in legal drama that eventually will end up in prison wretched and pathetic. Since the day they’ve landed eyes on each other, there’s never a moment where they are not beating the hell out of each other. But sometimes, Park Sunghoon can be very capable of flirting with Sunoo in front of the goddamn public just to embarrass him. It also doesn’t help when Sunoo forgets to breath properly. The only possible explanation for his biological arousal that can convinces Sunoo is that the older boy is insufferably good-looking.

“For your information, I never and will never beg a thing from you.”

“Are you two together?”

“Yes.” “What, No!”

They look at each other simultaneously before diverting their attention towards the blonde cashier who’s clearly amused by their argument. He looks even younger than Sunoo which makes him think he’s probably from one of the high schools around here to work part-time.

“I think he meant as in if we’re together to order.” Teases the law student, the undertone of his suggestion makes Sunoo’s face fumes. “But if you are expecting the other kind of together, I wouldn’t mind.” 

“You can order separately if you want.” Says the Cashier, and if Sunoo is not wrong, the blonde has been stealing glances at him every now and then.

“That’d be unnecessary, don’t you agree?” And he only agrees when Sunghoon immediately adds it’s on his bill. You only get to see Sunghoon taking out wallet for Sunoo once in a blue moon. 

In the end, the two cups of iced americano are replaced by two cups of hot Toffee rose. Sunghoon has insisted to change the cold beverage to warm ones in pretense to care about the music student’s nonexistent cold, claiming that if Sunoo fails the vocal test due to a sore throat, he’d be lectured by his mom for not taking care of the freshman. Those kinds of information actually spread pretty fast between the two’s families since the parents are close friends.

Which is a wonder because their children are dedicated enemies.

Everyone in the table is very concentrated doing either revision or papers. Sitting on his left, Sunghoon is currently doing a semantic drill with Heesung, it’s probably related to courtroom cross examination, he has heard Sunghoon mentioned it a few times before.

Now is the perfect time to execute his plan.

Scratching his throat, Sunoo slowly migrates his other hand towards his target object, which is the cup of latte that Sunghoon just sipped from. Diagonal from his seat, Jungwon is trying hard to suppress his laughs while Sunoo gladly sends him a middle finger under the table. He is also trying not to let the itchiness in his throat take over the stability of his fingers. When the tips touch the cup, Sunoo nonchalantly lifts the it towards his mouth, and with perhaps a millisecond of self-denial and existential bargaining, he affixes his lips onto exact spot on the opening of the lid where Sunghoon has been.

A gush of sweet rose scent explodes in his mouth.

But it’s not the taste of the rose latte itself, Sunoo feels the pungency of the floral scent swamps up to his nasal cavity and before he can react, he is choking on petals. Losing the balance, the cup topples onto his white sweater and splatters onto his skin, rosy liquids running all over his chest like color paints.

“What the——”

Fuck. He fucked up.

He immediately puts both of his hands over his mouth, panic ablaze in his eyes.

“Sunoo-ah you Okay!” “Oh my.”

There’s a lot of commotion around him, but he’s too perturbed to think straight because there are already a few petals here and there, falling on the ground and on his legs. All he can see in his head is how his friends will all going to discover he has a disease and it’s because of his crush for Sunghoon. And that will be the end of world for him.

Speaking of Sunghoon, he’s already got a hold of Sunoo’s wrist while everyone is fretting over what to do. After wiping off some liquids with a handful of tissue, Sunoo, still dumbfounded, is dragged to the toilet.

“You’re insufferably clumsy, you know that?” Sunghoon shakes his head while plastering cold, water-drenched paper towels over Sunoo’s clothes and neck, cooling down the skin that have been burnt by the high-temperature liquid, which leaves patches of faint coral color marks on Sunoo’s pale, milky skin. “What a waste of my money for the poor cup of coffee.”

Sunoo peeks at the older boy who’s now attentively drying his clothes, it will be forever a mystery if his skin burns from the hot beverage or Sunghoon’s touches. By now, he has already recovered from the initial shock and accept the reality that whether or not he is being adjudicated by the laws today, he better prepare a sound explanation, because judging from his previous experience, being forced into a solitary location with Park Sunghoon means a perfect storm.

But one thing for sure, that damn plan indeed goes down in flames like what Jungwon predicted, asynchronous kiss doesn’t do the magic. So what now? Is he actually going to kiss his rival for real? Not that he completely detests the idea since no one would turn down the paradigm gesture of affection from their crush, but he cannot possibly do it in this version of reality. In theory, they have hated each other for almost 12 years and mostly likely will continue to do so. Sunoo cannot imagine how their relationship will change if he actually kiss Sunghoon. He doesn’t want the kind of composed, judicious rejection Sunghoon would give him, and it punches him in the chest to picture what kind of terror and disgust could appear on the sophomore’s face.

“Is this..., petal?” Sunghoon tweezes a small piece of red frond between his nails, examining with a furrowed brow.  
Sunoo quickly snaps it off without letting a chance of further inspection, the petal has red pigment instead of magenta, it is his petal.

“D-duh! What do you think, remember you ordered those Toffee rose latte? These are like decors on the foam.”

Sunoo hopes his made-up story sounds more convincing than the warble in his voice. To his relief, Sunghoon completely ignore the existence of those petals. Rubbing his hands clean from the water, he shifts closer towards Sunoo, successfully cornering him onto the cold porcelain wall before dipping his head near Sunoo’s neck.

“No wonder you smell like roses. I was going to ask what brand of perfume you use.” If Sunghoon is being a flirt when he comments on Sunoo’s smell, winking at the younger with a smug look, he quickly swaps for a deadpan seriousness which is the one he always uses to intimidate his opponent in sim court. Sometimes, Sunoo ponders how this person is even possible for changing from one person to another without moving a hair.

“Now, I’m not particularly fond of lies as you know me, so you better spill things out before I beat it out of you.”

“Tsk, if you actually think this is an interrogation, I request my right to silence.”

“Awww, look at all these things I taught you.” In his attempt to shove the law student, Sunghoon doesn’t even budge. The kind of gaze Sunghoon is giving him starts brewing an illusion of which he has committed a disgrace terribly wrong.

“Kim Sunoo, you’re acting all weird these days. Jake said you were not showing up on music theory yesterday without excused absence, that’s just so not you, and all of sudden you caught a cold that only makes you cough but not with a runny nose? And you started drinking the damn coffee? Also, if I saw it correctly you even drank my cup.”

Shit, so he did notice the cups.

“Cancer? Tumor? Depression over a dead street puppy?” The third option is actually the type of things Sunoo would do, well contributing one more reason for Sunoo to stay away from Sunghoon because he just knows him too well that behaviors and mood changes ever so slight and nuanced cannot not escape his watch. It makes the older boy more irksome as he knows where to pull the trigger, “Or is it stress that college is giving you? I mean, the way you struggle in Mrs. Nam’s writing elective reminds me the old days when I was still simple and naïve.”

“I’ll have the deadliest infectious disease in the world so you can also die.”

“Sounds fun, I’ll put hanging out with you in hell on my new year wish-list.”

Sunoo decides to kick him on the shin and the law student feigns a pretentious whimper. He can’t be sure whether Sunghoon is sincerely worried about him earlier, the guy jaunts between apathy and empathy with calculated precision of manipulativeness that Sunoo can never work out. He prefers consistency, whether it’s emotional or life in general, it’s like his passion in music that persists from childhood till now, a stark contrast to Sunghoon who decides on his major only in the beginning of second year. Well, the older boy really has a talent in sophistry that makes people want to murder him during sleep. 

“Seriously, it’s just a freaking cold, also the fuck you used Jake hyung to spy on me? Just get over with your wild imagination so I can go back and study.” Sunoo grumbles, rasping a light cough in attempt to drive Sunghoon away from him. “Back off before I wheeze onto your annoying face.”

But the taunt fails to work on Sunghoon. Remember, he belongs to the shameless crowd. Smirking, the law student rakes a hand through his dark strands of hair in front of Sunoo’s face as if checking himself in front of a mirror before presentation. “Well, cutie, I don’t really mind getting infected by you, we just shared the same drink in case you forget.”

For God’s sake, can the rascal stop mentioning the drink. Sunoo should really listen to Jungwon’s advice so he will not have to endure the relentless mockery coming from his enemy. He is so certain he took the cup when the other was not looking. How did Sunghoon even see that coming? Does the brat have an eye on the back of his head? Right now, Sunoo finds himself in an incredibly disadvantageous position because throughout their 12 years of acquaintance, they never shared something so intimate, partly because Sunoo is the one who always rejects the idea.

“Sir, my mind was messed up so I just mistake yours as mine. Don’t flatter yourself thinking it’s my intention to do something weird with your property.”

“Hey, I never say I’m against it. In fact, it’s you who always make a big deal out of sharing stuff. I’m a nice person you know.” Sunghoon takes one more step forward, pinning an arm next to Sunoo’s head and the freshman is trapped between the sink and the older boy’s forelimb like a fish in the net.

“You can do anything to me, and I’ll let you.”

Even kiss you?

It’s a familiar feeling, Park Sunghoon is posing a challenge and Sunoo knows it too well. You can’t take words from people like him too seriously, the more invested you are the more shameless he becomes, and even if air tightens in his lungs and knees grow weaker by the seconds as these inviting words caress his ears, tempting him to surrender and flee disheveled, Sunoo suddenly understands it’s the opposite. Sunghoon would so brazenly invade the circumscription of his safe space, knowing he wouldn’t retaliate. But what if he tries for once? 

In the battering sound of his own heartbeat, Sunoo puts a hand over the older boy’s exposed nape, the overgrown portion of his scruff hair tingling Sunoo’s finger. He feels the temperature of his palm becomes so hot that the skin underneath drops several degrees colder, and it takes a lot of will to hold on to it. Sunoo begins to pull, the distance between them shortens to merely a fist. It’s even harder to maintain a straight face at this point than reaching a difficult high note without scowling in his vocal class, but Sunoo manages to not falter as he fixes his gaze on Sunghoon, the height difference between them casts a shadow on him that makes the taller boy’s expression unreadable. They are abnormally close, and with that close of look, Sunoo swears he can draw the impressive contours of Sunghoon’s defined features on the back of his neck.

The idea of kissing him in the café’s bathroom for real never crosses Sunoo’s mind, he just wants to test how close they can get, how far he has to walk to reach the closeness for a kiss. But Sunghoon didn’t stop him. Sunoo tries to find a clue on his unmoved face, perhaps confusion, or amusement, or annoyance, but instead there’s only the deep whirlpool of his dark, composed eyes, like the frozen surface of a dark body of water, and in there lies a code of emotion he can’t break.

“Shit.”

One more inch closer, Sunoo doubts he’s going to combust from all the blood pumping up to his brain. He lets out a faint groan before breaking his neck from the deadlock. “Fuck this.”

Sunghoon chuckles at the younger’s flustered expletives. He has returned to his usual self like nothing has just happened, a hand in his pocket and the other flattening the nonexistent creases on his tie. “Don’t you agree I look too illegal in this ensemble?”

“Totally, and I regret not spitting on it.” Sunoo crosses his arm, visibly vexed. The scene replays in his head again and again, reminding him if he’s a bit braver, the mission would have been completed. But it’s harder than you imagine, especially for someone who hasn’t had any experience with kissing. Yes, Sunoo’s first kiss is still untouched.

“Oh, is that what you were going to do?” asks the sophomore, eyes gluing on the freshman who’s already reaching for the doorknob, about to escape.

“Whatever you say, I’m really need to study now .”

If Sunghoon didn’t hear the answer he wanted, he didn’t press further.

Sunoo’s last exam ends in less than 20 minutes.

The crisp melodies of piano playing reverberate in the spacious hall of the law auditorium as instructors attentively take notes on the performance the front row seats. For students taking the piano solo performance finals, each of one them will get a serial number for in which order they will be performing, and not having the best luck of his life, Sunoo’s turn to go is around the last bunch. By now, the hall is almost empty with only a few faculties and students lingering. The piece he has prepared is Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3, “love dream”, a good medium-length composition but romantically sad for the Christmas vibe around the corner; it’s like poison sugarcoated in candy, the morbid interweavement between love and death, which is an pretty accurate portrayal of his recent mood.

He finishes the last press of key before bowing to his evaluators from the dais, the round of applause and the approving smile on Professor Nishimura’s benign face tell Sunoo he did great. At the entrance of the hall, Sunoo saw an excited Jungwon waving at him with takeout bag, his friend has probably finished his own share of exam and went to find him for a chat.

“Damnnn, sometimes I’m just amazed by how your fingers can do so many amazing things! I almost cry over your performance.” Jungwon dramatically strokes his eyes as if there are actually tears, earning a contented snort from the music student. Sunoo rubs his hands together in attempt to warm up his frozen fingers, then takes the extra cup of hot chocolate brought by Jungwon before gulping down a merry amount, a cup of hot chocolate during the Christmas season can never go wrong.

“So, what’s our plan tonight?” says Sunoo, he thinks they all deserve a good celebration or relaxation after all the academic pressure with finals.

“Jake hyung’s mom is treating us homemade dinner at his house. Cake rolls and bread puddings involved.”

“Australian parents are truly the best.” Sunoo exclaims into the air, words drifting in the air and turning into marshmallow of white vapors, “umm…who else will be there tonight?”

Jungwon chuckles, and Sunoo knows he’s being a little be too obvious with the implied meaning in his question. “Instead of asking that every single time, should I just simply tell you that your crush is going.”

“Stop exposing me then.” Sunoo’s voice comes out a bit hoarse this time, the familiar yet disquieting feeling is crawling up his organs again. The coughs sometimes attack him sporadically throughout the day, it does get worse when he is in a closer proximity with Sunghoon and lessen when his crush is out of reach. But lately, he has experienced episodes of intense symptoms in random locations, like classrooms, parking lot, stairs of their dorm building, convenience stores, regardless of whether Sunghoon is present (but lucky enough, it doesn’t ambush him on exam time). Every sickness has its course of procession and eventually they will eat up your bodies, but Sunoo doesn’t know when and the countdown is churning his mentality slowly.

His plan has also halted temporarily due to finals. In fact, Sunoo didn’t get a lot of chance to see Sunghoon for the past week, the law student is the busiest among them along with Jay hyung, often missing from their lunch table due to hectic schedules. Sunoo hates to admit but he misses the older boy a lot.

“You don’t sound like you’re getting any better. Do you still want to go though?” Jungwon pats him worriedly on the shoulder.

“I’m fine, Jungwon-ah. Remember my plan? I’m not the type to give up easily.” Sunoo jokes, but in fact he has lost a bit of confidence since last time’s accident. They’re still bickering every now and then and their relationship didn’t become any awkward because of it, but Sunoo would prefer kissing an unconscious Sunghoon. Maybe he can drown the law student one day, so he can do a CPR as an excuse. 

“Yeah, yeah, let’s pretend we are amnesic to your epic failure last week. The consequence of not listening to my wise advice. But since I’m a very good friend I will help you tonight, just wait——oh, Niki!”

A boy in dark hoodie appears from the entrance, and Sunoo finds the boy oddly familiar until he catches the blonde hair.

He’s the boy from the café, that cashier.

Sunoo shoots Jungwon a baffled glance, one thing he doesn’t quite get is how Jungwon befriends the boy and secondly, he never has guessed that he’s also one of the university’s students.

“Hi.” The boy, whom Jungwon calls by the name Niki, beams warmly at Sunoo. The boy kind of looks like a cute husky.

“Sunoo-ah, this is Niki, I don’t know if you recognize him, he’s the one from the café shop Heeseung hyung brought us last week, he’s friend with Heeseung and Jay hyung actually. And by the way, he helped to clean up the mess you’ve made last time, the latte.” Jungwon nudges Sunoo jokingly on the shoulder while mouthing him ‘I think he likes you’ in silence, making the latter wants to seal his babbling mouth.

“Sorry about that, I’m Sunoo, Kim Sunoo, nice to meet you Niki.” Sunoo scratches his head apologetically then extends a hand with his signature bubbly smile. Niki gladly takes the freshman’s hand with a firm grip, and he might have held it longer than it needs to be. Perhaps Jungwon isn’t entirely joking about it just now.

“Anyway, didn’t expect to see you here at the uni. Are you also studying here?”

“Nah, but actually professor Nishimura is my mom, she’s the piano teacher here. I’m just here to give her the bento I made.” Niki explains, in his hand a cotton bag containing a cute Kumamoto print bento box.

“Oh my, so you are the talented dancer drummer that wakes up neighbors in the middle of the night that Mrs. Nishimura is talking about. I just had her final in there. She’s a tough but great professor.” Sunoo says playfully, making the blonde boy and Jungwon both chortles. Mrs. Nishimura often mentions to the class about his son endearingly and share a lot of interesting anecdotes that give her headache sometimes, and he can’t believe he’s already met the protagonist of his professor’s stories in person.

“Yeah that’s me. And I saw you playing up there, you were incredibly good.” Niki’s compliment makes Sunoo feel warmed in the heart, although the song itself is actually a bit sulky in its true meaning.

“Hey, you should come with us tonight. We have a post-final slash pre-Christmas party at one of our friend’s house. Me, Sunoo, Jay and Heesung hyung are also going.” Jungwon suggests eagerly, it would be fun to have a new friend to talk to at the party tonight. Sunoo can’t figure whether this is part of the ‘help’ Jungwon mentions earlier to him but he doesn’t detest the idea of having Niki coming over. The guy has been staring at him for quite a while and he’s cute. Maybe he can get Sunghoon off Sunoo’s mind for quite a bit.

After the three of them greeted Mrs. Nishimura shortly, they’ve decided to shop for pre-Christmas presents for their friends. Niki is quiet at first but soon they find out he’s absolutely a crackhead, and Sunoo can definitely imagine him annoying around the house with his piano professor chasing after him. Niki also told them that he sometimes part time at the café because the dance studio where he practices is nearby. The weather is getting colder as the sun sinks under the skyline. After shopping some general gifts for other potential guests at the party, they’ve decided to split and buy individual present for the hyungs.

What Sunoo loves the most about Christmas week is the gifts, he swims through the crowd and jumps into every other store to check out collection of Christmas boxes displayed on the show window, dazzling in the holiday’s ornamentation. Already having a bagful of gifts selected, Sunoo thinks about Sunghoon

In past year’s Christmas, Sunoo would pranks on the older boy during Christmas and the other would do the same. He bet Sunghoon is going to do the same thing this year, perhaps giving him a box full of fake spiders like it’s Halloween or some really weird flavor candies. But then somewhere in the timeline things changed for Sunoo, and he begins to ruminate over what Sunghoon would like, what would make him happy as a gift.

He’s pulled away from his thoughts when Niki taps him on the back, apparently finishing his own purchase. “Woah, Sunoo hyung’s pretty fast, are you done with all?”

Sunoo shakes his head with a sheepish pout. “No…I’m need to buy one more for…one of my friends.”

They say you always save the most important person to the last.

“Is it for the person who’s with you last time, at the counter?”

As the night begins to fall, streetlights are starting to glisten down the street, groups of pedestrians and passengers are passing them by full of blissful laughters. Sunoo slowly nods, the sole of his shoes mindlessly tramping on the grooves of a block of concrete on the street as if it needs to be flattened. He doesn’t realize how careful he’s starting to become, how shy he looks under the mellow glow of festive lights, and Niki has stopped talking altogether, only staring at Sunoo in deep thoughts.

“Hyung, can you give me a present, for Christmas?” The blonde asks, and Sunoo of course would not reject the younger boy, “can I have your scarf?”

Sunoo unties the black woolen fabrics from his neck and hands it to Niki, to be honest it’s one of his favorite scarf. The exposed skin of his neck shivers as the cold winter breeze sneaks into his collar, then he suddenly thinks of the nape underneath his hands in the café’s bathroom the other day, how cold the patch of skin feels against his fingertaps, like ice a burnt by sun.

He has an idea.

  
tbc.


End file.
